Understanding the Social Dynamics of Celebrity: An Ethnomethodological Exploration

• Název práce v češtině: Understanding the Social Dynamics of Celebrity: An Ethnomethodological Exploration
• Název v anglickém jazyce: Understanding the Social Dynamics of Celebrity: An Ethnomethodological Exploration
• Klíčová slova: Celebrity Status, Actor’s Roundtable, Ethnomethodological, Social Dynamics, Creation, and sustenance
• Klíčová slova anglicky: Celebrity Status, Actor’s Roundtable, Ethnomethodological, Social Dynamics, Creation, and sustenance
• Akademický rok vypsání: 2022/2023
• Typ práce: diplomová práce
• Jazyk práce: angličtina
• Ústav: Katedra sociologie (23-KS)
• Vedoucí / školitel: doc. Mgr. Martin Hájek, Ph.D.
• Řešitel: skrytý - zadáno vedoucím/školitelem
• Datum přihlášení: 14.09.2023
• Datum zadání: 14.09.2023

Seznam odborné literatury

1. Clayman, S. E., & Heritage, J. (2002). The news interview: Journalists and public figures on the air. Cambridge University Press.
2. Couldn’t, N. (2000). The place of media power: Pilgrims and witnesses of the media age.
3. Davies, B., & Harré, R. (1990). Positioning: The discursive production of selves. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 20 (1), 43-63.
4. Du Bois, J. W. (2007). The stance triangle. In R. Englebretson (Ed.), Stancetaking in discourse: Subjectivity, evaluation, interaction (pp. 139-182). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
5. Ekström, M., & Johansson, B. (2008). Talk scandals. Nordicom Review, 29(1), 17-31.
6. Ekström, M., & Johansson, B. (2019). The role of journalism in celebrity interviews: A conversation analytical approach. Journalism, 20(1), 128–144.
7. Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. Anchor Books.
8. Garfinkel, H. (1967). Studies in ethnomethodology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
9. Harré, R., & van Langenhove, L. (1999). Positioning theory: Moral contexts of international action. Wiley-Blackwell.
10. Hutchby, I. (2011). Doing non-neutral: Belligerent interaction in the hybrid political interview. In M. Ekström & M. Patrona (Eds.), Talking politics in broadcast media: Cross-cultural perspectives on political interviewing, journalism, and accountability (pp. 115–134). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
11. Marshall, P. D. (2014). Celebrity and power: Fame in contemporary culture. University of Minnesota Press.
12. Tolson, A. (2001). Being yourself: Essays on identity, action, and social life. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
13. Turner, G. (2013). Understanding celebrity. Sage.
14. Whitehead, K., & Kurz, T. (2008). ‘Empowerment’ and the pole: A discursive investigation of the reinvention of pole dancing as a recreational activity for women. Journal of Health Psychology, 13(8), 1069–1081.
15. Sacks, H. (1987). On the Preferences for Agreement and Contiguity in Sequences in Conversation. In G. Button & J. R. E. Lee (Eds.), Talk and Social Organization (pp. 54-69). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
16. Sacks, H., Schegloff, E. A., & Jefferson, G. (1974). A Simplest Systematics for the Organization of Turn-Taking for Conversation. Language, 50(4), 696-735.
17. Sacks, H. (1995a). Lectures on Conversation (2 Volumes). Oxford: Blackwell.
18. Schegloff, E. A. (1968). Sequencing in Conversational Openings. American Anthropologist, 70(6), 1075-1095.
19. Schegloff, E. A. (1987). Recycled Turn Beginnings: A Precise Repair Mechanism in Conversation's Turn-Taking Organization. In G. Button & J. R. E. Lee (Eds.), Talk and Social Organization (pp. 70-85). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
20. Schegloff, E. A. (1992). Repair After Next Turn: The Last Structurally Provided Defense of Intersubjectivity in Conversation. American Journal of Sociology, 97(5), 1295-1345.
21. Stivers, T., Mondada, L., & Steensig, J. (2009). Knowledge, Morality and Affiliation in Social Interaction. In J. Sidnell (Ed.), Conversation Analysis: Comparative Perspectives (pp. 169-200). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
22. Wilson, S. R., Wiemann, J. M., & Zimmerman, D. H. (1984). The Public and Private Self in Verbal Deception: A Test of Itzkoff's Theory. Communication Monographs, 51(4), 271-282

Předběžná náplň práce

Topic of work

The study aims to analyse how celebrity status is constructed and maintained in conversation within the Actor's Roundtable of Hollywood Reporter, using ethnomethodology as a theoretical framework. Celebrity is a phenomenon that reflects and influences various aspects of social life, such as identity, power, culture, values, etc. and is mainly created and disseminated by the media, especially through celebrity interviews (Turner, 2013; Marshall, 2014). The theoretical part of the thesis will utilize ethnomethodology as a framework to analyse how celebrity status is constructed and maintained in conversation among actors and actresses in the film industry. Ethnomethodology draws on video-recorded data as a preferred method with detailed attention to talk-in-interaction and gestures as interaction. The concepts of indexicality, reflexivity, and accountability are central to ethnomethodology because together they illustrate meaning as a methodical accomplishment.

Despite the importance of celebrity interviews in the media landscape, a systematic and in-depth study of how celebrity status is constructed and maintained in conversation is lacking. Most existing studies have focused on specific aspects of these interactions, leaving a need for a more comprehensive and holistic approach. The Actor's Roundtable, a series of interviews with prominent actors and actresses by Hollywood Reporter, serves as an interesting and important setting for studying celebrity interaction. It involves complex dynamics among participants who share a common profession but have diverse backgrounds, experiences, and personalities.

Expected theoretical framework.

The theoretical framework for this study is based on ethnomethodology, a sociological theory that examines how social order is not predetermined but rather constantly produced and reproduced through the everyday interactions of individuals (Sacks, 1992). Ethnomethodology assumes that people have shared understandings and practical strategies for managing social situations, even if these are often implicit and taken for granted. This theory relies on several key concepts - indexicality, accountability, reflexivity, and breaching experiments - to explain how meaning is systematically constructed in social interactions.
Indexicality is a core concept in ethnomethodology that highlights the context-dependence of meaning in social interactions. It means that the meaning of words, actions, and symbols is derived from the specific social and situational context in which they occur.
Accountability is another important concept that refers to the requirement for individuals to make their actions and statements understandable to others within a given context. People are constantly involved in justifying and explaining their actions, either explicitly or implicitly (Sacks, 1992).
Reflexivity complements this concept by describing the ongoing and implicit processes of self-awareness and self-monitoring that individuals engage in during social interactions. It indicates their ability to observe, interpret, and adjust their behaviours and actions based on the immediate social context and the expectations of others (Garfinkel, 1967).
Breaching experiments are a distinctive method within ethnomethodology to reveal the implicit rules and norms that regulate social interactions. By intentionally breaking the usual social conventions, ethnomethodologists aim to elicit how individuals react and try to restore order. These experiments demonstrate how people rely on common sense and background knowledge to make sense of social situations.

Assumed research methods.
This study aims to analyze how actors and actresses construct and maintain celebrity status in conversation, using conversation analysis as the main methodology. Conversation analysis is a qualitative approach that examines the organization of talk-in-interaction and the methods that participants use to produce social order (Schegloff, 2007).
The data will be collected from the Actor’s Roundtable of Hollywood Reporter interviews, which will be transcribed and analyzed for how participants position themselves and others as celebrities, express their stances towards celebrity status, and negotiate their positions and stances with each other.
The analysis will also explore how unequal ratings of actors as celebrities are related to power and ideology in media culture. The study will follow the principles of ethnomethodology, which emphasize the situated and contingent nature of social action and the role of methods in creating social order (Garfinkel, 1967).


Ethical context of the considered project
The project will handle the collected data discreetly to ensure compliance with intellectual property laws and public data regulations. In relation to the participants' real identities and personally identifiable information, the project will carefully assess the potential implications for privacy and reputation. To safeguard this, pseudonyms will be utilized, and measures will be implemented to guarantee data confidentiality.

The analysis will be conducted with utmost care to prevent any harm to the participants or the exploitation of their statements or actions for sensationalism. The project will remain acutely aware of the potential consequences its findings may have on the individuals involved.

To maintain objectivity, the project will diligently avoid introducing any bias into the analysis. This entails refraining from preconceived notions or judgments regarding the celebrities under examination.

Předběžná náplň práce v anglickém jazyce

Topic of work

The study aims to analyse how celebrity status is constructed and maintained in conversation within the Actor's Roundtable of Hollywood Reporter, using ethnomethodology as a theoretical framework. Celebrity is a phenomenon that reflects and influences various aspects of social life, such as identity, power, culture, values, etc. and is mainly created and disseminated by the media, especially through celebrity interviews (Turner, 2013; Marshall, 2014). The theoretical part of the thesis will utilize ethnomethodology as a framework to analyse how celebrity status is constructed and maintained in conversation among actors and actresses in the film industry. Ethnomethodology draws on video-recorded data as a preferred method with detailed attention to talk-in-interaction and gestures as interaction. The concepts of indexicality, reflexivity, and accountability are central to ethnomethodology because together they illustrate meaning as a methodical accomplishment.

Despite the importance of celebrity interviews in the media landscape, a systematic and in-depth study of how celebrity status is constructed and maintained in conversation is lacking. Most existing studies have focused on specific aspects of these interactions, leaving a need for a more comprehensive and holistic approach. The Actor's Roundtable, a series of interviews with prominent actors and actresses by Hollywood Reporter, serves as an interesting and important setting for studying celebrity interaction. It involves complex dynamics among participants who share a common profession but have diverse backgrounds, experiences, and personalities.

Expected theoretical framework.

The theoretical framework for this study is based on ethnomethodology, a sociological theory that examines how social order is not predetermined but rather constantly produced and reproduced through the everyday interactions of individuals (Sacks, 1992). Ethnomethodology assumes that people have shared understandings and practical strategies for managing social situations, even if these are often implicit and taken for granted. This theory relies on several key concepts - indexicality, accountability, reflexivity, and breaching experiments - to explain how meaning is systematically constructed in social interactions.
Indexicality is a core concept in ethnomethodology that highlights the context-dependence of meaning in social interactions. It means that the meaning of words, actions, and symbols is derived from the specific social and situational context in which they occur.
Accountability is another important concept that refers to the requirement for individuals to make their actions and statements understandable to others within a given context. People are constantly involved in justifying and explaining their actions, either explicitly or implicitly (Sacks, 1992).
Reflexivity complements this concept by describing the ongoing and implicit processes of self-awareness and self-monitoring that individuals engage in during social interactions. It indicates their ability to observe, interpret, and adjust their behaviours and actions based on the immediate social context and the expectations of others (Garfinkel, 1967).
Breaching experiments are a distinctive method within ethnomethodology to reveal the implicit rules and norms that regulate social interactions. By intentionally breaking the usual social conventions, ethnomethodologists aim to elicit how individuals react and try to restore order. These experiments demonstrate how people rely on common sense and background knowledge to make sense of social situations.

Assumed research methods.
This study aims to analyze how actors and actresses construct and maintain celebrity status in conversation, using conversation analysis as the main methodology. Conversation analysis is a qualitative approach that examines the organization of talk-in-interaction and the methods that participants use to produce social order (Schegloff, 2007).
The data will be collected from the Actor’s Roundtable of Hollywood Reporter interviews, which will be transcribed and analyzed for how participants position themselves and others as celebrities, express their stances towards celebrity status, and negotiate their positions and stances with each other.
The analysis will also explore how unequal ratings of actors as celebrities are related to power and ideology in media culture. The study will follow the principles of ethnomethodology, which emphasize the situated and contingent nature of social action and the role of methods in creating social order (Garfinkel, 1967).


Ethical context of the considered project
The project will handle the collected data discreetly to ensure compliance with intellectual property laws and public data regulations. In relation to the participants' real identities and personally identifiable information, the project will carefully assess the potential implications for privacy and reputation. To safeguard this, pseudonyms will be utilized, and measures will be implemented to guarantee data confidentiality.

The analysis will be conducted with utmost care to prevent any harm to the participants or the exploitation of their statements or actions for sensationalism. The project will remain acutely aware of the potential consequences its findings may have on the individuals involved.

To maintain objectivity, the project will diligently avoid introducing any bias into the analysis. This entails refraining from preconceived notions or judgments regarding the celebrities under examination.